Harry Potter and the Holy Death Altar
by chr
Summary: What can happen if, before starting 6th year, Harry realizes that he still feels for Cho? Desperation... maybe...


HP_R_FIC  
  
-1. A Boring Summer  
  
Chapter 1: A Boring Summer  
  
[author's notes: This is the first time I am trying to do a fic based on Romance... I am used to JK-length chapters and this time their length went to a half so rapidly. You know the Disclaimer, who cares about it anyway, it`s a thing that anyone knows anyway, so there is no need mentioning it. So let's start the fic, I hope you`ll like it!!! It's cool, hehehe]  
  
It was a rainy day, as Harry Potter saw while looking through the window of his room in Privet Drive, number 4. He was sitting on a chair he pulled near the window, staring at the surroundings of his aunt's and uncle's house. He really enjoyed listening to the raindrops falling on the cold grass outside, the atmosphere put him in a dreamy state, thinking and thinking all over again last year's happenings... about his fifth year's happenings.  
  
He couldn't recall himself being that dreamy in his entire life before. Every bit of information that came in his head was pushing him so much farther away from his real life, making him stare randomly at the falling raindrops outside.  
  
He thought of so many things. First thing, Sirius Black, his godfather, the person he loved like a father... was nothing more than a sad -- or happy, depending on the way he thought, memory. Then, Voldemort was outside, surely rampaging the world as he did fifteen years ago.  
  
One more person came to his mind. And he could not think of anything else for some precious long moments. Cho Chang, a student in Ravenclaw that was about to start her seventh year, slowly came to his mind, the lost, forgotten memory of her coming back in a such unexpected way. He thought he didn't feel anything for her anymore when he was leaving Hogwarts only one month ago. Hermione, and Ginny afterwards, said that she was going out with somebody else -- more precisely, with Michael Corner. He didn't care at all when they told it to him at those moments -- he thought it was his sadness because Sirius passed away that kept him from thinking of anything those days.  
  
But now he managed to realize that Sirius was gone. He was gone forever. The shock of being caught by surprise by such a terrible event struck him so hard that his brain went totally numb. But those times were gone. Sirius was dead, as Harry kept reminding himself very otfen -- and he remembered that nothing could bring a person back from death.  
  
So that left his brain empty for other things, like Cho, to haunt him. He could not believe it at all -- he could not believe that only a month ago he felt relieved that everything he ever felt for her was just a memory, and that in the present his heart was aching terribly while he was realizing how he screwed up every single chance to be with her...  
  
How stupid it was when he thought that he actually had a date with her and he did so many mistakes -- a little sense was coming to him... Why did I have to say it like that when I meant I have to see Hermione, Why did I do that, he kept asking himself constantly...  
  
Then instead of trying to explain a few things, all he did wsa to have several rows with her... Instead of saying something good, he just argued... argued until he made it so much worse.  
  
Days were passing slowly and Harry didn't seem to bother thinking of anything anymore -- he didn't do anything the entire day than eating, sleeping and sometimes dreaming -- lying awake on his bed, staring out the window to see the constant rain outside that hadn't stopped for quite a few days. And the rain didn't contribute to anything but to make him feel even worse.  
  
Soon he was about to start school, he hadn't had much information from Ron or Hermione, or anyone; he got very few mail the entire summer. He could only remember one of them better - the moment when a Hogwarts owl brought him his marks for his OWLs.  
  
Reading and re-reading them, over and over again, he saw that he got an "Outstanding" in Defence against the Dark Arts, just as he thought he would; an "Acceptable" in Transfiguration, an "Acceptable" in Potions -- he was so happy he got at least that from the Potions exam, he could not believe his eyes... an "Exceeds Expectations" for Charms, another one in Care of Magical Creatures...  
  
The worst of all was Divination, where he got a "Poor"... In History of Magic he managed to scrap an "Acceptable..."  
  
Totally he had no more, no less than... what was it... he looked again on the paper to see the results...  
  
Six OWLs... Six, only six... he could say good-bye to his auror carreer, because snape said he wouldn't accept any student who didn't get an "O" in the OWLs for the NEWT practice... but that fact had a good part, indeed, he managed to get rid of the lessons with Snape...  
  
The news about his OWLs was the only thing in the entire holiday that took his thoughts off Cho for a few hours of his precious life.  
  
He had no news of anything from the wizarding world at all now that he was back in the Privet Drive. He did not know much, not that he asked anyone for information. But still he felt so distant from the magical world. He hadn't heard anything about Voldemort, there was nothing about him on the Muggle news either. The Order of the Phoenix wouldn't tell him anything even if he asked anyway, so he didn't even bother to ask them.  
  
Once that the time for leaving to Hogwarts was closing, he became quite anxious to leave the Dursleys, who were ignoring him totally except for giving him food. Dudley was afraid to even look at Harry, he could surely remember clearly the night when the Dementors attacked them -- and he thought it was Harry. He got so sick of wishing for the time to fasten up, that he couldn't not look forward to going to Hogwarts again.  
  
Harry felt so strange when he found out that he would not go to the Burrow at all that summer. Ron said he was very sorry, and that he could do nothing at all, he said it was his father's idea, Mr Weasley's, and Dumbledore's, that it was very dangrous to him and to the entire Weasley Family. Harry could not think what could be so dangerous, because he didn't expect Voldemort to attack the Weasleys, they were a numerous and strong family. They had four family members in the Order, so if Voldemort attacked them, the Order would suffer very much.  
  
The last days before he would depart to Hogwarts were the same rainy as the others of the summer. He had never seen a summer as rainy as that in his entire life. He wondered if the somber weather had any connection with the return of the Dark Lord -- though it was quite stupid to think it had, because nobody could control the weather, he just had a very strange feeling that this time it would be an exception. Voldemort managed to defeat death, he was killed but his spirit was free in the world, even if he was without a body. Why could he not manage to control weather?  
  
Soon he had to leave to Hogwarts -- Fred and George managed to apparate in his room once, telling him about their success with the Fainting Fantasies since people thought of giving them to others when they grew really bored of them, or other such things, and told him that Mr Weasley was going to come and drive him to King's Cross station with the entire Weasley family, including Hermione. Harry was looking forward to that moment of departure very much, even if it was just one day later; the memories of Hogwarts -- and of Cho -- coming to him making him think about her all day long.  
  
The next day in the morning he was woken up by the shouts of Uncle Vernon, who was calling his name for the first time in the entire summer. "HARRY! COME ON, BOY, SOMEONE IS LOOKING FOR YOU!" he shouted, making Harry hurry downstairs, still dressed with his pyjamas.  
  
Running down the stairs, he saw Ron at the front door waiting outside. Uncle Vernon was staring at him hatredly; Harry knew that his uncle hated magic and wizards very much -- and thinking that the Weasleys once made very serious damage to their house two years ago, their fear that Harry's friends were about to damage their house again would he quite high. They had no reason not to hate the Weasleys after that incident before Harry's fourth year.  
  
"Harry!" said Ron, who seemed to be as eager as Harry was to meet his friend.  
  
"Hey, Ron!" Harry said, speeding up to the door. As he reached the exit of the house, he had seen Hermione standing at the back of Ron, and the rest of the Weasley Family near a red car outside.  
  
When they finished the "hello"s, Harry packed his trunk, brought it down, and then everyone went back in the car, which was magically enlarged in the interior. Even though it looked normal from the outside, it was big enough for Mr. and Mrs. weasley, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione to sit comfortably, not forgetting everyone's packages and trunks thrown inside.  
  
They went into a talk about their summers. Harry had nothing to say much, he didn't want to say anything about Cho at all to anyone -- not even his closest friends. He thought it was too private for even Ron or Hermione to know, because he thought about Cho all day long so much... he really missed her...  
  
They reached King's Cross at ten minutes to eleven, just in time to pass through platform nine and three quarters and find seats until the train would leave. Ron and Hermione went to the prefects' wagon, so Harry remained there alone with Ginny.  
  
Searching for compartiments wasn't difficult, there were many empty ones. They entered one and took their places, not forgetting to keep seats for Ron and Hermione because he knew they would come.  
  
He and Ginny were sitting silently in some opposite seats, relaxing for a long journey. It was eleven o'clock and they reached Hogwarts at night, so Harry had one more day until he would see the beloved Hogwarts Castle again -- and Cho...  
  
Looking at the compartiment door Harry was looking at the people who were passing by to find seats. Soon they finished, and Harry with Ginny were left in the compartiment alone, the same silence was dominating in the compartiment...  
  
It didn't take long to see that people were walking through the train again, he saw Draco Malfoy with his two bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle; Draco didn't even want to look at Harry, and that was a very strange face, because he always seemed to come in the compartiment to enjy a little offensive chat with Harry.  
  
Ron and Hermione didn't show up yet, but instead his stomach gave another lurch whne he had seen Cho Chang walk and look right at him, blushing just the same way as she did two months before when they were returning home. At least it gave Harry a little optimism about the future he dreaded so much the entire summer.  
  
Even when Ron and Hermione came to the compartiment, they had nothing new to say, it was the most boring trip to Hogwarts Harry had ever experienced in the Hogwarts Express. They reached the Hogsmeade station in silence, getting out of the train, pleased that this time he had heard Hagrid shout, "Firs' years over here!". It made a difference from the last year, when he was away trying to get the giants on their side. 


End file.
